Delta to expand service to London, resume Manchester route in summer 2020

Delta Air Lines said Thursday it will add daily nonstop flights from the northeast to London's Gatwick Airport next summer, in addition to resuming service to Manchester, England, and increasing its presence at Heathrow.

In a press release, the Atlanta-based carrier announced it will begin daily service to Gatwick, located about 1.5 hours south of central London, from New York's JFK International Airport on May 21 and Boston's Logan International Airport the following day.

May 21 will also see Delta resume nonstop service Boston and Manchester, the airline's eighth transatlantic destination.

And on March 29, the airline will increase capacity to Heathrow by 15%, with three daily flights including its first daytime flight between JFK and Heathrow. Partner Virgin Atlantic will operate an additional five daily flights.

The changes are part of a major expansion of the 2014 partnership between Delta and Virgin Atlantic that will run up to 18 daily flights between the two American cities and London's two biggest airports as well as Manchester and the Scottish cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. In total, the airlines expect the expansion will increase transatlantic seating capacity by nearly 10,000 seats weekly.

Passengers flying Virgin Atlantic from Boston to Heathrow will travel on the fleet's newest aircraft, the Airbus A350, which features suites for Upper Class customers and a social area called the Loft.

“We’re excited to return to London Gatwick, which is where we launched our first U.K. destination over 40 years ago as well as Manchester, and continue to grow our international network from Boston,” said Delta vice President Roberto Ioriatti in a statement. “Together with Virgin Atlantic, we are strengthening our presence in the northeast U.S. and in London, offering customers a greater choice of destinations combined with the excellent service they can expect from our airlines.”

The West Coast won't be left out of the 2020 expansion.

Virgin Atlantic will bump up the frequency of flights from Heathrow to Seattle from seven to 11 per week. Service to Heathrow to Los Angeles will also increase from 14 to 17 weekly flights. That route will also use the A350.